The Chevy Chase, Md., Colonial-style home at 5501 Park St. has a split personality.

The exterior matches the classic homes of the neighborhood, but the interior renovations completed in 2012 by architect Michael Bruckwick and designer Sarah Wessel resulted in an open floorplan that includes some dazzling features such as an accordion-style folding glass wall, a high-end open kitchen and a full home automation system with surround sound systems, music zones and insulated shades with electronic controls.

(Peter Evans Photography)

Listed for sale at $1.975 million, the 3,825-square-foot home has five bedrooms, four full baths and one half-bath. The master bath has heated floors and a heated towel rack.

(Peter Evans Photography)

The multi-level outdoor space includes a swimming pool. For more information on this Chevy Chase home, contact realty agent Erich Cabe of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage at 202-320-6469 or visit www.cbmove.com.

Foodies get a chance to live at Union Market

While foodies already flock to Union Market for gourmet treats, in the future they’ll be able to roll out of bed for artisanal cheeses and fresh coffee.

LCOR, a real estate company that specializes in property development, recently purchased Gateway Market at 340 Florida Ave. NE in the Union Market district, where the company plans a mixed-use development including 188 apartments and 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail space.

The project will incorporate elements of Union Market’s historic industrial design on the exterior and inside the apartments.

Edens, the company that rehabilitated and transformed Union Market, will coordinate the retail section of Gateway Market.

Gateway Market is anticipated to be complete in 2017.

New condos to rise above Trapeze School

The Yards, a mixed-use redevelopment project by Forest City Washington on the waterfront in Southeast Washington, will soon be the site of a new condo building.

PN Hoffman, a developer of upscale condos and mixed-used developments, will build the 10-story, 130-unit residential building, the first for-sale project in the community. The site on Fourth Street SE at Tingey Street in The Yard is currently occupied by the Trapeze School of New York, which will be relocated within The Yards.

The luxury condos will have a range of residences from studios to two-bedroom units, all with architectural details and interiors reminiscent of the site’s industrial past. A rooftop residents’ lounge, outdoor kitchen and fire pits and a front desk will be among the building amenities, along with private terraces and balconies. Retail spaces will be on the ground level.

The Foundry Lofts apartments at The Yards are already fully leased and a second apartment building — with a grocery store, a fitness facility, restaurants and other shops — is to open soon.

When complete, The Yards will have 2,800 residential units, as much as 400,000 square feet of retail space and 1.8 million square feet of office space along with the waterfront Yards Park.

A recent survey by RateWatch, a banking data and analytics service owned by The Street, revealed that among non-homeowners, “financial instability” is consistently a top factor in their decision to postpone buying a home.

While that’s expected among consumers with lower incomes, the survey found that 25 percent of all potential buyers, regardless of their income, didn’t feel financially secure enough to become a homeowner.

The survey results show the following percentage of individuals who cited financial instability as a reason to avoid owning a home:

• 24 percent with an annual household income over $150,000

• 38 percent with an annual household income between $100,000 and $149,999

• 28 percent with an annual household income between $50,000 and $99,999

• 32 percent with an annual household income between $25,000 and $49,999

• 31 percent with an annual household income between $0 and $24,999

Analysts at The Street speculate that rising home prices have contributed to the insecurity of potential homebuyers about becoming homeowners.

Michele Lerner is a freelance writer. To pass on a tip or news item, contact us at realestate@washpost.com and put “Town Square” in the subject line.

Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers.

To pause and restart automatic updates, click "Live" or "Paused". If paused, you'll be notified of the number of additional comments that have come in.

Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers.